My car clicks after turning the key in the ignition, but won't start. At first it tried to start, then that just went away and now it clicks. The click is coming from the starter solenoid. I took my battery in and it was fine. I replaced the ground cable on the battery as well. I also plugged a brand new battery in to check if it was the terminals: didn't work. Next, I removed the starter and had it checked: good to go; pinion wheel was engaged and nothing was frozen up. I even replaced the ignition switch and that didn't work.

Could it be the main power wire (not the solenoid wire) not getting enough juice to the starter? To my knowledge, it sounds like the pinion wheel is engaging--especially if it is being jumped. I am at a loss and have no clue. Any helpers?

Oh yeah, my car is a Honda Civic 2006 Automatic

 

Had a similar problem in my Integra. Can you take a wire from the positive side of the battery to the tab on the starter which is connected to the engine harness? Make sure to have the car in park/neutral and the key turned to [II].

Does it start?

This sounds like a start issue. I had to pull mine apart 100% and clean the leads etc. Works like a charm now.

 

I am going to try that now, plus test the voltage coming from the positive side of the battery to the starter. By start problem, you're speaking of the starter, correct? Sorry, I am a newbie.

 

Yes, starter issue. That's me typing too quickly and failing to proof read.

Mine still clicks with no start every once in awhile, but on the second attempt it always starts.

My issue I found was that the solenoid "tabs" were not making enough contact to the part where the battery wire was connected to. It was enough to activate the plunger onto the flywheel, but not enough to actually start the engine.

Bent the tabs down to touch more, cleaned everything, and I was good to go.

 

Nice, thanks. This is definitely a learning experience. So if I run a wire from the positive to the place where the main wire is connected to the solenoid, it should run? That is, give it enough juice and bypass the metal tab that you screw into the solenoid. If it doesn't run, I am guess the solenoid is shot. That would be weird because the starter worked at Autozone which was plugged into the solenoid. Thanks for the much helpful advice!

 

There are two connections on the starter. One bigger wiring directly off the battery, and another from the engine harness. Unplug engine harness, touch one end of wire to the positive battery side, and the other end to the exposed tab on the starter where the engine harness was originally at. The car should start unless the starter itself is completely shot or if there is a different problem.

 

Measure voltage from the big terminal on the starter to starter ground. Should be battery voltage. Now have someone turn the key to start. If you hear a click from the starter and the voltage doesn't drop much, the starter is bad. If the voltage goes away (< 9 volts) there is a problem with the battery or the wiring.

 

The ground being what part of the starter? Excuse my ignorance.

 

Disregard that. I figured out the ground, duh. Waiting for my friend to come over so he can crank the ignition and I can see if there is voltage loss or not. Without a crank, the voltage reads as the same as the battery output. That is, positive part of multimeter on the main power into the solenoid (one with metal tab and nut) and negative part of the multimeter on the ground of the starter.

 

I tested while cranking and the starter lost a ton of voltage: way lower than 9. That would explain why the starter worked at Autozone. Checking electrical parts now and starting with the terminal on the positive wire which hooks to the solenoid.